The weapons sent to help Ukraine, from drones to anti-tank missiles

The West has signalled an increase in the military assistance it is giving the country to defend itself

Workers unloading a Royal Canadian Air Force military transport plane to assist Ukraine at Lviv airport. AFP

A new member of the Territorial Defence Forces trains to operate an AT4 anti-tank launcher in Kyiv. Reuters

A plane loaded with military equipment for Ukrainian forces takes off from Albacete, Spain. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier holds a Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon used to destroy a Russian armoured personal carrier in Irpin, north of Kyiv. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman with a Javelin missile system on the front line near Kyiv. Reuters

A soldier holds a Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank rocket launcher at the Munster military training area in Germany in 2016. Getty Images

A US Marine Corps staff sergeant aims a M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon. Photo: US National Archives

The Switchblade is a camera-equipped, remote-controlled flying bomb with a reputation for pinpoint delivery. AP Photo

A coalition forces member fires a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle system during weapons practice on a range in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in 2013. US Army Photo

A Starstreak surface-to-air missile system. PA

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While President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for Nato fighter patrols over Ukraine has gone unheeded, the West has not been reticent in providing crucial arms to keep Russia at bay.

Initially, it was just Britain and America, which supplied Kyiv with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. But now at least 18 countries are pouring in weapons.

The missiles have already blunted Russian attacks around the country, but hundreds have already been fired, requiring urgent need for more supplies.

It also appears that the weapons being provided are increasing in lethality. They include Britain’s Starstreak missile along with America’s Switchblade “kamikaze” drones.

The quality of the weapons is such that some military analysts fear their secrets could become known to the Russians – and potentially the Chinese – if the arms are captured intact.

But the stakes are so high that Nato appears willing to supply what it can to help Ukraine defeat the invasion.

What weapons have been sent to Ukraine since the start of the Russian war?

Here are the weapons that have been sent to the country and its neighbours since the start of the year, most of which have been pledged since the invasion began.

1. Bayraktar TB2 drones
2. Switchblade drones
3. NLA's anti-tank weapon
4. AT4 Portable anti-tank weapon
5. M-72 light anti-tank weapon
6. Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle
7. Panzerfaust 3 light anti-tank weapon
8. FGM-48 Javelin anti-tank missile
9. Starstreak anti-aircraft missile
10. FIM-92 Stinger air defence system
11. MIM-104 Patriot missile battery
12. Sky Sabre missile system
13. S-300 missile defence systems
14. Patrol boats
15. Mi-17 helicopters
16. Field artillery

But Ukraine will be told to shop for its own weapons with €1 billion ($1.1bn) provided by its European neighbours, Germany said on Monday, amid mixed signals over its direct arms shipments to Ukraine.

The EU’s 27 members were poised to approve of the subsidy, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. She said Ukraine needed more equipment to fight Russian forces, which she described as committing war crimes.

The money would be put in place so that “Ukraine can buy its own weapons or that countries who continue to deliver weapons are supported,” Ms Baerbock said as she arrived for the meeting in Brussels.

For weeks, a Ukrainian government official, Oleksii Reznikov, has tweeted photos of the weapons as they arrive in the country.

“Two more birds in Kyiv,” has been his common phrase on seeing cargo planes land packed with ammunition or arms.